"The Voice," NBC's heavily promoted singing competition with Christina Aguilera taking the focal reins, opens with the four celebrity "coaches" singing Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." The performance is steady without being remarkable, competent yet hardly sparkling * an omen of sorts for the performances that fill the two-hour premiere tonight (Apr. 26).
After a rules explanation that eats up a healthy chunk of time, about a dozen singers take the stage and run through hits by the likes of Faith Hill, Adele, Nirvana, Aretha Franklin, Bruno Mars, Janis Joplin, Estelle and Rascal Flatts.
Host Carson Daly explains the concept: *Aguilera, Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton will have their backs turned while performers sing a single selection. They do not know the singers, names, ages, backgrounds; * they are forced to trust their ears.
Each coach will create teams of eight singers each *-- they get about half way there in the debut -- making their selections known by hitting a large red button that turns their chair around to face the performer. If more than two coaches spin around, which happens often in the first episode, the singer gets to choose their coach. Each coach takes a slightly different tack to entice a singer: Levine and Aguilera go thick with compliments; Green plays things cool; and Shelton uses aw-shucks country charm. If none of them turns around -- and this occurs three times on the premiere --* the singer returns home.
Not surprisingly, "The Voice" borrows more than a few tricks from "American Idol," chiefly the stationing of Daly with the contestants' families during each performance so he is there to greet the singers once they know their fate. Lots of tears, lots of hugs.
Storylines that involve a troubled past are dispatched quickly. One girl tours the country in her 1992 Toyota and has no home; one guitar strummer has six children and a few years of sobriety; and a married couple is living in the basement of the wife's parents' home, hoping for their musical break.
Then there's the one story that does not quite click with a sympathy vote: A pretty girl who has spent her life being known as "the pretty girl with the good voice." She has had enough of it. She just wants to be known as a singer. Green and Levine, who clearly like her singing, are none to shy about expressing how happy they are that she can sing --* and is quite pretty. Seems like that fact won't go away.
One singer after another is as professional as the next one. Fear gets a hold of some of their voices, especially at the start of several songs, and when the coaches weigh in on instances where they did not buzz in, it is usually the lack of a unique quality in the singing.
Two performers stood out for taking chances with their interpretations, former Capitol Records artist Javier Colon and Rebecca Loebe. More than the others, they arrive with shaped musical personalities, but there is no telling whether that will help or hinder in the coming weeks when they are put in head-to-head matches with other singers.
A couple of performances do get all four coaches to buzz in and in one case it is for a singer who may have been discounted based on his physical appearance. The producers have gone for a few singers that may have been pre-judged for their looks. There are shaved heads and Afros, neck tattoos and beer bellies, teens and fortysomethings, and at least one bad hat selection. More than just Colon will be familiar faces to some: * "American Idol" dropout Frenchie Davis, Texas troubadour Tje Austin, who has three albums to his name, and musical party girl Kelsey Ray, whose "Masquerade" video has been played 1.4 million times on YouTube, are in the competition.
While America waits to see which singers will quickly emerge as favorites, there's no denying that right now this is Aguilera's show. She takes control whenever possible, blending congeniality, glamour and sass in attractive package. And the cameras can't help emphasizing her either -- her cleavage is given much more air time that any of the men's assets.
Tonight, NBC’s new singing competition The Voice debuts, and Christina Aguilera has been making the talk show rounds. She talked in detail about her Super Bowl flub with Ellen DeGeneres, explaining that she’d sung the anthem for the Steelers in her hometown since she was seven or eight. “I think I had a moment where I was at the Super Bowl at 30 years old. I took in the moment a little bit too much. Shoot me for appreciating the moment. But I was like, ‘Here I am at the Super Bowl, singing for a team and in front of the world and remembering what it was like to be that young, and look where I’ve made it now,’ and then it’s like, OH. And that night, I knew,” she said, laughing. “I was like, I just made myself a Trivial Pursuit question. ‘In 2011, what female singer flubbed the lyrics….’”
With Jay Leno, Aguilera talked about all the experience she brings to her team of Voice contestants when it comes to dealing with the ups and downs of show business and getting through mistakes by preparing yourself for the next time, when you want to show people you’re stronger. Watch both interviews below.
Through all of her recent mishaps, the one thing you can never deny is her voice. Letting audiences hear her talk passionately about singing and see her appreciate someone else’s talent as a mentor may just be the best career move she’s made lately.
As a singing competition, "The Voice" has some interesting twists. And we thought our readers would have some questions about NBC's new reality singing competition as it approaches its series premiere Tuesday, April 26 at 9 p.m. ET with the blind audition rounds.
So, we went right to the show's host, Carson Daly, with your questions from Twitter, Facebook, and right here on Zap2it.
Here are the 5 Zap2it reader questions Carson answered:
1.) As host, what's your involvement with the contestants? -- @Mkr512 on Twitter
This show is a hybrid. So, it's part stage performances and then part reality television and storytelling. So in the blind auditions, I'm with the families. So if you went up there, I'd be with your mom and dad. And I watch the audition process with them and I'm there for good news if somebody turns their chair around and I was there for bad news when nobody turned around. So, that was my role for the blind auditions. In the battle rounds, I'm at center stage and I'm the traffic cop bringing in all their artists. But, you know, I'm the host of it. It reminds me of everything I've done on MTV. It's such a music-centric show. It just felt like something I would have done on MTV.
2.) Do you think the "blind round" will affect ratings at all if one of the coaches chooses a person with a pretty spectacular voice and a less than marketable appearance? -- @CoOpQuotes on Twitter
I don't know. I don't know how ratings work, number one. Number two, I'm on the late night. I live by the DVR. I have no idea how ratings will be affected in this show. All I can tell you is that this show's priority is with the voice. That's where it starts and then it grows and it moves to the episodes. I don't know how the ratings will be affected by that. But you know, I don't look at anybody physically first. I mean whatever you look like you happen to look like. It's about your level of talent.
the-voice-carson-daly-zap2it-nbc-2.jpg
3.) Which one of the four coaches is the mean one? -- @HunterW on Twitter
I have to start by saying I don't think any of them are really mean at all, because that's not the M.O. of the show. [Adam Levine] is probably the most competitive. So, you'll notice throughout the show his competitive spirit more so than the other coaches.
4.) What does each coach bring to the table? -- Jessica on Zap2it
We got Christina Aguilera who's the voice of the generation and one of the best female artists and singers of all time, hands down. She's got a fiery spirit and is the only female you know who loves all sorts of music. She's great with her team. She'd be a great choice for any artist. You have Blake Shelton who people think is maybe just a country guy, but he's not. You will see in the show, he hits his button on non-country artists and, by the way, he can help make a career, too. He's got Nashville in his pocket. Adam Levine, he's a great singer/songwriter who works well with people who write their own music. He's, I think, the most competitive of all the coaches. And you got Cee Lo Green who is, you know, Yoda. He's zen like. He's omnipotent, he's a great producer. He works for all sorts of talent. So you can't go wrong with any of them.
5.) Having worked at MTV, you've known Christina Aguilera since she was a teenager. In what ways is she the same and in what ways is she different from when you first met her? -- Michael Hearst on Zap2it
Oh my God! I think the world of her. I've been very clear about that. I think she is the, when they mentioned this show, the voice. To me, she is the voice of the generation. I think you can't have a female coach without having her. She's a woman now. It's great to see her. You know, I haven't seen her in a little while in the last, you know, so many years since the TRL days. When I knew her then, she was a fiery young songbird. She was a little girl with big pipes and now she is a, now she's a woman and a mother and she's mama bear and she just, she owns it and she's really confident in her voice and her business. It's like she's in her prime right now. It's been awesome to work with her again recently and get to know her. She's so great in this show. Any reservation or any sort of trepidation that somebody would have had about how incredible she is in this show. She goes all in to try and help her
I don't know who this man is, but he's funny as hell. And LMAO @ Christina saying 'You scared the living crap out of me' (03:20) because of NBC being the one of the least successful TV Networks in the US currently, and because they cancelled that man's show.
I don't know who this man is, but he's funny as hell. And LMAO @ Christina saying 'You scared the living crap out of me' (03:20) because of NBC being the one of the least successful TV Networks in the US currently, and because they cancelled that man's show.
He was the main actor in Mad About You, a famous sitcom with Helen Hunt in the.. 90s?
